Return |Home | Contact | NCGenWeb | Statewide

STAGVILLE PLANTATION

Durham County, North Carolina

(click photo for larger image)

BENNEHAN, CAMERON, CORRY, DAYE, HARRIS, HART, HENDERSON, many more

Located in eastern Orange County (now Durham County), initially belonged to Virginia-born merchant Richard Bennehan (1743-1825). Bennehan came to North Carolina in 1768 to manage a store on Little River owned by Scottish merchant William Johnston. He began to purchase plantation lands near the Johnston store in 1776, and in the same year he married Mary Amis, a member of a planter family from Northampton County. In 1787 Bennehan bought the core of what would become Stagville Plantation from the widow Judith Stagg. She and her husband Thomas had operated a tavern at the site, which was probably even then known as "Stagville." Bennehan built a new store and dwelling on the Stagg tract, where he and Mary raised two children, Rebecca and Thomas. At the end of the eighteenth century, Bennehan ranked among the area's most successful planters, owning 3,914 acres and 42 slaves of working age. Rebecca Bennehan married Duncan Cameron, a lawyer and planter who was to play a leading role in the state's judicial, political, and banking affairs. Duncan and Rebecca were to make their home at Fairntosh Plantation, one mile south of the Bennehan house at Stagville. Thomas Bennehan never married, however, and upon his death in 1847 Stagville passed to the Cameron family.  The entire complex was owned by the Bennehan and Cameron families; it comprised roughly 30,000 acres and was home to almost 900 enslaved African-Americans in 1860. The remains of Historic Stagville consist of 71 acres in three tracts. Among structures on the Stagville site are several historic houses and barns, including the original Bennehan House and some of the original slave quarters, which were in an area known as Horton Grove. Some of the acreage from the original estate were donated to the State of North Carolina in 1976, by Liggett and Meyers Tobacco Company, which had owned and worked the land for decades. The State now operates the property as Historic Stagville.  

Read: Stagville on NCPedia

900 Slaves in 1860.  Following are a List of about 266 Slaves on the Cameron Plantations in an 1844 Shoe List, which were recorded to show the number of pairs of shoes that were made for the Slaves.  They are listed according to which location they were working on. Also, following the Shoe List, is a List of Children born to Slaves from 1834 through 1841.

MILL:
1. Cyrus
2. Lucy
3. Hannah
4. Henry

******************

SLAVE CHILDREN BORN AT STAGVILLE, 1834-1841:

1834
Anna Daughter of Nelly & David
Jesse Son of Mary & Ben
Philis Daughter of Silva
Danil Son of Molly & Math
Lucy Daughter of Ester & Jack


1835
Sintha Daughter of Pats & Dandridge
Juda Daughter of Elin & Ovill
Francis Daughter of Anna
Lucy Daughter of Peg & Cato


1836
Elin Daughter of Ester & Jack
Solomon Son of Bets & Joe
Pheh & Enah (???) Son & Dau of Margret & Horris
Vilet Daughter of Elin & Ovill
John Son of Mary
Frank Son of Silva
Harry Son of Molly & Math


1837
Elxa Son of Smith & Daniel
David Son of Amy & Solomon
William Son of Nat & Marth

 

******************

See an extensive list of Slaves from the Stagville African American Genealogy site; or go directly to Index of Individuals

Transcribed by D. Williams, Nov. 22, 2016

Historic Stagville;   Cameron Family Papers, 1757-1978 contains many portions online; The Plantation Letters, from the Cameron Family Papers;Richard Bennehan Biography;  Duncan Cameron Biography; List of Slaves Cameron Family Plantation, 1844;

Abner Jordan, Life as a Slave; Abner Jordan Slave Narrative; National Register of Historic Places; Historic Stagville; Genealogy Research for Stagville Descendants; Correspondence of the Bennehans & Camerons included in "Records of ante-bellum Southern Plantations", microfilm, FamilySearch.